128 LAND-BIRDS AXD GAME-BIRDS 



3'ellow beneath. Crown almost streaked with black. Super- 

 ciliary' line, j-ellow. Throat bordered b^^ a black line, ft-om the 

 bottom of which black streaks (often wholly inconspicuous) 

 run down the breast. $ , with the blue impure and black 

 restricted. 



(b). The nest is usually placed on the ground, in swampy 

 woodland. In Eastern Massachusetts four or five eggs are 

 laid about the first of June. These eggs average "68 X "50 of 

 an inch, and are white, generally clouded delicately at the 

 larger end with brown and lilac. 



(c). The Canada "Flycatchers" are common summer-resi- 

 dents in the w-oods of northern New England, but in Mas- 

 sachusetts, though their nests have been found, for instance, at 

 Ljam, they are rare except as migrants. 'The}' arrive at Boston 

 on the twentieth of Ma}-, or even later, and I have observed 

 them here traveling as late as the fifth of June. Daring their 

 visits, which are individually brief, they frequent woodland, 

 often that which is swampy, though also dry pines, and the 

 shrubbeiy in or near it. Occasionally the}' venture to gardens 

 and shrubbeiy near houses, but they are naturally fond of re- 

 tired or even secluded spots. They journey singly or in pairs, 

 and are never gregarious, nor often very numerous in any one 

 place. Among the White Mountains they frequent those for- 

 ests where the undergrowth of ferns and living plants, and the 

 entanglement of moss-covered logs and stumps, are both so 

 rich. 



The Canada Warblers are very active, occasionally alighting 

 on the ground, and almost invariably keeping near it, and 

 move among the shrubbery from one low branch to another, 

 continually catching insects in the air. They occasionally run 

 over fences or walls with great ease, and, in fact, in all their 

 motions exhibit grace and agilit}'. They are not very shy, and 

 suffer a near approach to inquisitive persons. When, however, 

 their nest is approached, they become vigilant and anxious, 

 particularly the males, who plainly show their distress. These 

 latter, in such cases, often fly about among the branches above 

 one's head at quite a distance from the ground, emitting their 



